WILSON, N.C. - The Wilson Warbirds rallied late once again to take down the Salem RidgeYaks in a 2-1 victory at Wilson Ballpark on Wednesday night.
After Andrew Healy and Thomas Conrad combined to shut out Salem (23-30) through four innings, Wilson (28-25) turned the ball over to Enderson Mercado (W, 2-2). Mercado worked through the fifth, stranding two, but allowed an unearned run in the sixth as Salem jumped out to a 1-0 lead.
Through seven innings, the Warbirds trailed 1-0 and were stagnant offensively, sending just 23 batters of a 21-batter minimum to the plate. Finally, things changed in the bottom of the eighth.
Filippo Di Turi led off the home half of the eighth with a walk. He then advanced as Jadyn Fielder reached on a one-out error by Salem reliever Wulliams Rodriguez (L, 1-4). Yannic Walther then poked an infield single to the right side to load the bases.
Down 1-0 with the bases loaded, Juan Ortuño drew a walk to tie the game 1-1. Brady Ebel then grounded out to second to score Fielder and give Wilson a 2-1 lead.
The Warbirds deployed Eric Prado (S, 2) to the mound in the ninth inning looking for the save. After walking Givian Sirvania to start the inning, Prado struck out the top of the RidgeYaks order in succession to send Wilson in the win column.
The two teams meet again on Thursday for game three of the series, with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. RHP Jarrette Bonet (1-3, 5.21) will look to hand Wilson at least a split of the series, while Salem will send RHP Barrett Morgan (3-1, 1.98) to the mound, trying to snap a losing streak. Tickets for the contest are available at WilsonWarbirds.com or by calling (919) 269-2287, Thirsty is another ThirstyThursday with $2 Miller Lite and PBR served concourse-wide, and fireworks will also follow the game.